1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and process for preparing high temperature reaction products, and more particularly to an apparatus and process for preparing high temperature reaction products, such as calcium carbide, ferrosilicon and calcium silicon in an electric furnace.
2. Prior Art
Various proposals have been made to supply a carbonaceous addition material in an electric furnace containing starting materials to allow the carbonaceous addition material to react with other starting materials in the high temperature environment in the furnace, thereby to improve the yields of reaction products and to decrease electric power consumption.
For example, one of the known processes involves the use of an electrical furnace provided with a hollow electrode through which carbon particles are fed in the furnace. However, the hollow electrode serves only for supplementing carbon particles therethrough, and it is not expected to improve the yields of reaction products and by-product gases or to decrease electric power consumption by the provision of such a hollow electrode.
It has been known in the art to supply a carbonaceous material and oxygen into an electric furnace at a region surrounding the electrode using a lance. However, simply by supplying a carbonaceous material and oxygen in the furnace, improvement in yields of the reaction products and by-product gases and decrease in electric power consumption could not be attained in good economical balance. In addition, the conventional lance is disadvantageous in that the lance is often defected by burning to make it difficult to continuously feed the carbonaceous material and oxygen therethrough. Although the use of a water-cooled lance is proposed, there is a risk that serious explosion accident might be induced by abruptly expanding steam in the event where the lance is defected to cause leakage of cooling water in the furnace.